162: Should You Self-Publish? (Part One)
Free Time with Jenny Blake
Should You Go Hybrid or Self-Publish?
If you're writing a fiction book, it's just harder to justify that spend upfront until the book becomes a smashing success. Most authors I know who go hybrid tend to be business authors because their business can afford the cost of producing the book and co-producing it with an A plus team.
Should you self-publish? This is a big debate among aspiring authors, and there is no one right answer. Today I’m sharing my take on the three main publishing options you have to get a book into the world:
- Self-publishing (including direct-to-ebook or audiobook) where you hire your own team of specialists along the way.
- Hybrid where you partner with an established publisher, while fronting the costs as an author (for the team they assemble and either print-on-demand or funding a larger print run), and
- Traditional publishing with one of the “Big Five” publishing houses, where they give you an advance, and you get the cache of making it through the “gatekeeper” gauntlet.
🌟6 Key Considerations:
- Cash Flow
- Your Business Model
- Quality
- Speed
- Team & Process
- Platform size, connections, and “know that I tried”
📝Permission: Take one small next step towards publishing your book. Remember, you are a messenger. When you get overwhelmed, return to asking, “What is in the highest good for all involved? How can I move forward with ease and joy?”
✅Do (or Delegate) This Next: Check out the Author Toolkit, then draft a one-page query email highlighting the answers to: why me, why now, why this book, and your platform stats.
📘Books Mentioned:
- Free Time: Lose The Busywork, Love Your Business
- Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One
- Life After College
- Published.: The Proven Path From Blank Page To 10,000 Copies Sold by Chandler Bolt
- Write Useful Books: A Modern Approach to Designing and Refining Recommendable Nonfiction by Rob Fitzpatrick
- Write a Must-Read: Craft a Book That Changes Lives—Including Your Own by A.J. Harper
🔗Resources Mentioned:
- Free Time’s Author Toolkit
- Article: New York Times’ How to Get Published—One Book’s Journey
- Related Podcasts: Self Publishing School, The Creative Penn Podcast
- Publishers: Page Two, Running Press Publishing, Portfolio Publishing, Ideapress Publishing, Amazon CreateSpace
- Audiobook Publishing: ACX, Findaway Voices
🎧Related Podcast Episodes:
- 103: How to Land a Literary Agent and Publisher with David Moldawer (Part One)
- 105: “Don’t write the wrong book!” with David Moldawer (Part Two)
- 077: Happy Launch Day! Antonio Neves Guest Hosts (Part 1)
- 079: Behind the Launch with Antonio Neves (Part 2)
- 096: Book Sales Stats—One Month Post-Launch 🎉
- 028: When the Financial Tides Recede
- 045: Behind the Free Time Brand with Adam Chaloeicheep
- 158: How to Decide on a Book (or Big Idea) Topic—10 Filters
- 070: Rough Drafts vs. The Writers Room
- 035: The Long Game with Dorie Clark
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